PERIKATAN Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s claim that his coalition had received a letter from Istana Negara with instructions from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to form the next government had been brought into question.
According to a news report by The Vibes, the “letter” that purportedly contained instructions from the king “could be false and a mere psywar to enable him to forge alliances in a power grab”.
Proper procedure indicated that the letter should come from the Dewan Rakyat Speaker rather than the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, a source told the news portal.
The source, a senior political observer who asked to remain anonymous, told the news portal that an indication that Muhyiddin was engaging in a psywar is the contents of a media statement issued by the palace yesterday (Nov 20).
“The statement said the king was officially informed of the election result by the Election Commission (EC) chairman – which is the protocol,” the source said.
“The EC chairman informed His Majesty that no one party managed to get a simple majority to form the government.”
The palace statement stated that the king had then summoned Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun to get the political parties with the most number of seats to propose their choice of prime minister by 2pm today.
“That is the instruction to the speaker which is the right way of doing it. The king will not engage directly with the political parties at this stage,” said the source.
The Palace statement cast in doubt what Muhyiddin claimed last Saturday, which was that he had received instructions from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“If there were any instructions, they would have been conveyed to the speaker, as illustrated by the media statement,” the source added.
Muhyiddin, who was a former prime minister, defended his Pagoh parliamentary seat for the sixth term with a majority of 10,007. – Nov 21, 2022
Main pic credit: Reuters
